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Table IV. in Appendix shews at a glance in which
zymotic diseases an increase of mortality has occurred
during the last year. The most striking increase is in
the mortality from Diarrhœal disease, 239 having died
as compared with 158 in the previous year. Of these
cases 175 occurred in Battersea. The causation of this
excessive mortality from Diarrhoea is fully discussed in
the report for East Battersea (page 31), and is also
alluded to at page 17. Measles caused 182 deaths, 50
more than in the previous year; while Scarlet Fever
and Diphtheria, which are taken cognizance of by the
sanitary authority as being more serious diseases, only
collectively caused 90 deaths, or 38 less than in the
previous year. Scarlet Fever and still more Diphtheria
and Typhoid Fever are closely associated in their origin
with sanitary defects. The reduction in the mortality
(and therefore probably in the prevalence) of these
diseases is hence a valuable indication of the improved
sanitation of the district.
The great mortality from Measles may be ascribed
to the gross neglect of isolation, and to the exposure to
cold and the premature sending of children to school
during convalescence. No great reduction in the number
of deaths from this disease can be hoped for, until
parents become thoroughly alive to its dangers, and